When football clubs change their manager they are always hoping for the new boss bounce.

Unfortunately for the Sky Blues it was Barnsley’s newly appointed head coach Lee Johnson who had the desired effect at Oakwell.

Although City created their fair share of chances, the difference in the two sides couldn’t have been clearer as Johnson’s inherited charges played with a spark and air of confidence as they claimed their fourth straight League One win.

Coventry, meanwhile, are still stuttering to discover the belief and form to get them out of trouble in a dreadful game which will have left the watching Tony Mowbray knowing he’s got plenty of work to get through on the training ground.

Goalless after a scrappy first half, he 51-year-old headed straight down the tunnel to talk to his players who lacked quality and composure on the ball but, ironically, had enjoyed the better chances with Marcus Tudgay going the closest when he thumped the foot of the post.

But they continued to fail to impose themselves on the Tykes after the break when they were undone by a disappointed set-piece header from target man George Waring that proved to be the difference on the night.

City made one change from Saturday’s starting line-up with Middlesbrough loan signing Luke Williams missing out on the five loan rule as Sanmi Odelusi returned from a hamstring injury to make his second appearance since joining from Bolton, although the wide man was less eye catching that he had been on his goal scoring Ricoh debut.

Both sides had chances in the opening exchanges, Coventry when Dominic Samuel charged down a clearance from keeper Adam Davies resulting in the ball shaving the post, but that was the striker’s only real effort on the night.

Martin Cranie, meanwhile, headed wide from a corner at the other end and they clearly didn’t learn their lesson as the former City defender was allowed another free header from a second flag kick ten minutes later, albeit not powerful enough to trouble Lee Burge.

Both teams looked to assert themselves early on but the Sky Blues’ cause wasn’t helped by sloppy play that resulted in giving the ball away cheaply in their own half to invite pressure on themselves.

But the game was wide open and although Barnsley knocked the ball about better, getting it wide on the right which was their main outlet, Tudgay almost broke the deadlock when Jim O’Brien slipped a delightful pass to him and he bent his shot round the keeper but onto the right upright.

The visitors were just lacking a bit of calmness. It was almost as if they were too eager to please their newly unveiled gaffer who watched from the stands, but in their urgency to do so their passing let them down time and time again.

The Tykes were also trying to impress newly installed Johnson, of course, taking charge of his first home game and a rejuvenated team who had won their last three games to shoot up the table. And their feel-good factor was certainly shining through as the opening half developed and they enjoyed 68 per cent of the possession.

City invited further pressure on themselves by conceding a couple of needless free-kicks which the home side promptly wasted with dreadful balls into the box. But a third foul, which resulting to Aaron Martin going into the book, was a case of taking one for the team as the centre-half blocked Josh Scowen en-route to goal.

Mowbray returned to his seat in the stands after the interval, only to see his charges concede an unwanted corner when Matty Pennington, facing his own goal, slid in to clear a ball that looked a comfortable take for Burge who fumed at the centre-back, having called for it in the first place.

Infuriatingly, Cranie got his head to yet another set-piece but again failed to make the most of his assertiveness in the box and sent it over the bar.

But tall striker Waring made no mistake when he ghosted in behind at the far post to send a stooping header past Burge from a deep Conor Hourihane free-kick. Mowbray bowed his head towards his lap in disappointment at the 57th minute set-back and Neil MacFarlane – in charge of the team on the night – responded by sending his big gun, Nick Proschwitz, for Tudgay who had seen little of the ball, and minutes later Frank Nouble for a disappointing Odelusi.

City appeared to be missing a trick by failing to test the Tykes’ teenage full-backs Mason Holgate and George Smith, Chris Stokes rarely getting past the halfway line on the left, although Aaron Phillips fared better down the right.

However, the introduction of the lively Blair Turgott – the 35th player City have used in the league this season – 15 minutes from time offered a ray of hope that the former West Ham graduate could stretch the opposition on the left. Nouble suddenly sparked into life, getting the better of Smith on the right and sending in a dangerous low ball across the face of goal as the Sky Blues enjoyed their best spell of the game.

The pair then switched flanks and Nouble drove into the box with five minutes remaining, going down under a challenge and looking to the referee for a penalty. It looked a reasonable shout but Tony Harrington was having none of it.

Pennington had a hooked shot cleared off the line during fie minutes of added time but it was a case of back to the drawing board for Coventry who put on a nervy, lacklustre show for their new boss.

The teams walked off at the end as the home fans sang Johnson’s name. We’ll have to see if Mowbray can have produce a similar response from the Sky Blue faithful against Port Vale when he will be in the driving seat for real on his home debut at the Ricoh Arena.